OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
The adoption and challenges of electronic voting technologies within the South African context
Venue: arXiv cs.CY 2013
Year: 2013

Literature has shown that countries such as Brazil and India have successfully implemented electronic voting systems and other countries are at various piloting stages to address many challenges associated with manual paper based system such ascosts of physical ballot paper and other overheads, electoral delays, distribution of electoral materials, and general lack of confidence in the electoral process. It is in this context that this study explores how South African can leverage the opportunities that e-voting presents. Manual voting is often tedious, non-secure, and time-consuming, which leads us to think about using electronic facilities to make the process more efficient. This study proposes that the adoption of electronic voting technologies could perhaps mitigate some of these issues and challengesin the process improving the electoral process. The study used an on-line questionnaire which was administered to a broader group of voters and an in-depth semi-structured interview with the Independent Electoral Commission officials. The analysis is based on thematic analysis and diffusion of innovations theory is adopted as a theoretical lens of analysis. The findings reveal that relative advantage, compatibility and complexity would determine the intentions of South African voters and the Electoral Management Bodies (IEC) to adopt e-voting technologies. Moreover, the findings also reveal several other factorsthat could influence the adoption process. The study is limited to only voters in Cape Town and these voters were expected to have some access to the internet. The sample size limits the generalizability of the findings of this study.
Minimising virtual machine support for concurrency
Venue: arXiv cs.PL 2013
Year: 2013

Co-operative and pre-emptive scheduling are usually considered to be complementary models of threading. In the case of virtual machines, we show that they can be unified using a single concept, the bounded execution of a thread of control, essentially providing a first-class representation of a computation as it is reduced. Furthermore this technique can be used to surface the thread scheduler of a language into the language itself, allowing programs to provide their own schedulers without any additional support in the virtual machine, and allowing the same virtual machine to support different thread models simultaneously and without re-compilation.
Hierarchical Low Power Consumption Technique with Location Information for Sensor Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2013
Year: 2013

In the wireless sensor networks composed of battery-powered sensor nodes, one of the main issues is how to save power consumption at each node. The usual approach to this problem is to activate only necessary nodes (e.g., those nodes which compose a backbone network), and to put other nodes to sleep. One such algorithm using location information is GAF (Geographical Adaptive Fidelity), and the GAF is enhanced to HGAF (Hierarchical Geographical Adaptive Fidelity). In this paper, we show that we can further improve the energy efficiency of HGAF by modifying the manner of dividing sensor-field. We also provide a theoretical bound on this problem.
Polylogarithmic Gap between Meshes with Reconfigurable Row/Column Buses and Meshes with Statically Partitioned Buses
Venue: arXiv cs.DC 2013
Year: 2013

This paper studies the difference in computational power between the mesh-connected parallel computers equipped with dynamically reconfigurable bus systems and those with static ones. The mesh with separable buses (MSB) is the mesh-connected parallel computer with dynamically reconfigurable row/column buses. The broadcast buses of the MSB can be dynamically sectioned into smaller bus segments by program control. We show that the MSB of size $n \times n$ can work with$O(\log^2 n)$ step even if its dynamic reconfigurable function is disabled. Here, we assume the word-model broadcast buses, and use the relation between the word-model bus and the bit-model bus.
Study Of E-Smooth Support Vector Regression And Comparison With E- Support Vector Regression And Potential Support Vector Machines For Prediction For The Antitubercular Activity Of Oxazolines And Oxazoles Derivatives
Venue: arXiv cs.CE 2013
Year: 2013

A new smoothing method for solving ? -support vector regression (?-SVR), tolerating a small error in fitting a given data sets nonlinearly is proposed in this study. Which is a smooth unconstrained optimization reformulation of the traditional linear programming associated with a ?-insensitive support vector regression. We term this redeveloped problem as ?-smooth support vector regression (?-SSVR). The performance and predictive ability of ?-SSVR are investigated and compared with other methods such as LIBSVM (?-SVR) and P-SVM methods. In the present study, two Oxazolines and Oxazoles molecular descriptor data sets were evaluated. We demonstrate the merits of our algorithm in a series of experiments. Primary experimental results illustrate that our proposed approach improves the regression performance and the learning efficiency. In both studied cases, the predictive ability of the ?- SSVR model is comparable or superior to those obtained by LIBSVM and P-SVM. The results indicate that ?-SSVR can be used as an alternative powerful modeling method for regression studies. The experimental results show that the presented algorithm ?-SSVR, plays better precisely and effectively than LIBSVMand P-SVM in predicting antitubercular activity.
Maturity Model for IT Service Outsourcing in Higher Education Institutions
Venue: arXiv cs.OH 2013
Year: 2013

The current success of organizations depends on the successful implementation of Information and Comunication Technologies (ICTs). Good governance and ICT management are essential for delivering value, managing technological risks, managing resources and performance measurement. In addition, outsourcing is a strategic option which complements IT services provided internally in organizations. This paper proposes the design of a new holistic maturity model based on standards ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO/IEC 38500, the frameworks and best practices of ITIL and COBIT, with a specific focus on IT outsourcing. This model is validated by practices in the field of higher education, using a questionnaire and a metrics table among other measurement tools. Models, standards and guidelines are proposed in the model for facilitating adaptation to universities and achieving excellence in the outsourcing of IT services. The applicability of the model allows an effective transition to a model of good governance and management of outsourced IT services which, aligned with the core business of universities (teaching, research and innovation), affect the effectiveness and efficiency of its management, optimizes its value and minimizes risks.
Heat kernel coupling for multiple graph analysis
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2013
Year: 2013

In this paper, we introduce heat kernel coupling (HKC) as a method of constructing multimodal spectral geometry on weighted graphs of different size without vertex-wise bijective correspondence. We show that Laplacian averaging can be derived as a limit case of HKC, and demonstrate its applications on several problems from the manifold learning and pattern recognition domain.
Efficient Dynamic Access Analysis Using JavaScript Proxies
Venue: arXiv cs.PL 2013
Year: 2013

JSConTest introduced the notions of effect monitoring and dynamic effect inference for JavaScript. It enables the description of effects with path specifications resembling regular expressions. It is implemented by an offline source code transformation. To overcome the limitations of the JSConTest implementation, we redesigned and reimplemented effect monitoring by taking advantange of JavaScript proxies. Our new design avoids all drawbacks of the prior implementation. It guarantees full interposition; it is not restricted to a subset of JavaScript; it is self-maintaining; and its scalability to large programs is significantly better than with JSConTest. The improved scalability has two sources. First, the reimplementation is significantly faster than the original, transformation-based implementation. Second, the reimplementation relies on the fly-weight pattern and on trace reduction to conserve memory. Only the combination of these techniques enables monitoring and inference for large programs.
Constrained Colluding Eavesdroppers: An Information-Theoretic Model
Venue: arXiv cs.IT 2013
Year: 2013

We study the secrecy capacity in the vicinity of colluding eavesdroppers. Contrary to the perfect collusion assumption in previous works, our new information-theoretic model considers constraints in collusion. We derive the achievable secure rates (lower bounds on the perfect secrecy capacity), both for the discrete memoryless and Gaussian channels. We also compare the proposed rates to the non-colluding and perfect colluding cases.
Mobile Robots in Teaching Programming for IT Engineers and its Effects
Venue: arXiv cs.CY 2013
Year: 2013

In this paper the new methods and devices introduced into the learning process of programming for IT engineers at our college is described. Based on our previous research results we supposed that project methods and some new devices can reduce programming problems during the first term. These problems are rooted in the difficulties of abstract thinking and they can cause the decrease of programming self-concept and other learning motives. We redesigned the traditional learning environment. As a constructive approach project method was used. Our students worked in groups of two or three; small problems were solved after every lesson. In the problem solving process students use programmable robots (e.g. Surveyor, LEGO NXT and RCX). They had to plan their program, solve some technical problems and test their solution. The usability of mobile robots in the learning process and the short-term efficiency of our teaching method were checked with a control group after a semester (n = 149). We examined the effects on our students' programming skills and on their motives, mainly on their attitudes and programming self-concept. After a two-year-long period we could measure some positive long-term effects.
Worst-Case Performance Analysis of Some Approximation Algorithms for Minimizing Makespan and Flow-Time
Venue: arXiv cs.DS 2013
Year: 2013

In 1976, Coffman and Sethi conjectured that a natural extension of LPT list scheduling to the bicriteria scheduling problem of minimizing makespan over flowtime optimal schedules, called LD algorithm, has a simple worst-case performance bound: (5m-2)/(4m-1), where m is the number of machines. We study structure of potential minimal counterexamples to this conjecture and prove that the conjecture holds for the cases (i) n > 5m, (ii) m = 2, (iii) m = 3, and (iv) m greater than or equal to 4, n less than or equal to 3m, where n is the number of jobs. We further conclude that to verify the conjecture, it suffices to analyze the following case: for every m greater than or equal to 4, n is either equal to 4m or 5m.
Online Bayesian Passive-Aggressive Learning
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2013
Year: 2013

Online Passive-Aggressive (PA) learning is an effective framework for performing max-margin online learning. But the deterministic formulation and estimated single large-margin model could limit its capability in discovering descriptive structures underlying complex data. This pa- per presents online Bayesian Passive-Aggressive (BayesPA) learning, which subsumes the online PA and extends naturally to incorporate latent variables and perform nonparametric Bayesian inference, thus providing great flexibility for explorative analysis. We apply BayesPA to topic modeling and derive efficient online learning algorithms for max-margin topic models. We further develop nonparametric methods to resolve the number of topics. Experimental results on real datasets show that our approaches significantly improve time efficiency while maintaining comparable results with the batch counterparts.
Scalable Safety-Preserving Robust Control Synthesis for Continuous-Time Linear Systems
Venue: arXiv cs.SY 2013
Year: 2013

We present a scalable set-valued safety-preserving controller for constrained continuous-time linear time-invariant (LTI) systems subject to additive, unknown but bounded disturbance or uncertainty. The approach relies upon a conservative approximation of the discriminating kernel using robust maximal reachable sets---an extension of our earlier work on computation of the viability kernel for high-dimensional systems. Based on ellipsoidal techniques for reachability, a piecewise ellipsoidal algorithm with polynomial complexity is described that under-approximates the discriminating kernel under LTI dynamics. This precomputed piecewise ellipsoidal set is then used online to synthesize a permissive state-feedback safety-preserving controller. The controller is modeled as a hybrid automaton and can be formulated such that under certain conditions the resulting control signal is continuous across its transitions. We show the performance of the controller on a twelve-dimensional flight envelope protection problem for a quadrotor with actuation saturation and unknown wind disturbances.
Policy Network Approach to Coordinated Disaster Response
Venue: arXiv cs.SI 2013
Year: 2013

In this paper, we explore the formation of network relationships among disaster relief agencies during the process of responding to an unexpected event. The relationship is investigated through variables derived from the policy network theory, and four cases from three developed countries such as (i) Hurricane Katrina in the US; (ii) Typhoon Maemi in South Korea; (iii) Kobe; and, (iv) Tohoku Earthquake in Japan that failed to cope with extreme events forms the basis for case study presented here. We argue that structural characteristics of multi-jurisdictional coordination may facilitate or impede in responding to a complex nature of recent disaster. We further highlight the promise of policy network approach in facilitating the development of multi-jurisdictional coordination process which may provide new avenue to improve the communication and coordination of hierarchical command control driven organizations with the local community. Our proposed novel approach in investigating the usefulness of network approach through media content analysis for emergency may provide opportunity as a countermeasure to a traditional hierarchical coordination, which may give further insights in establishing a more effective network for emergency.
The solution of complex problems on calculation of the electrostatic fields on lessons on computer modeling
Venue: arXiv cs.OH 2013
Year: 2013

In article the following tasks on computer modeling of electric fields are analyzed: 1) calculation of distribution of potential for the field created by two parallel plates and charged bodies in the non-uniform environment; 2) calculation of distribution of potential and force lines of electric field in which are brought the cylinder, a pipe, a plate, a rectangular parallelepiped from dielectric, and also the metal cylinder; 3) calculation of distribution of potential in the one-dimensional nonuniform environment; 4) the solution of the equation of Poisson in spherical coordinates; 5) calculation of distribution of potential in cylindrical coordinates with the subsequent creation of equipotential surfaces and force lines.
Semantics of (Resilient) X10
Venue: arXiv cs.PL 2013
Year: 2013

We present a formal small-step structural operational semantics for a large fragment of X10, unifying past work. The fragment covers multiple places, mutable objects on the heap, sequencing, \code{try/catch}, \code{async}, \code{finish}, and \code{at} constructs. This model accurately captures the behavior of a large class of concurrent, multi-place X10 programs. Further, we introduce a formal model of resilience in X10. During execution of an X10 program, a place may fail for many reasons. Resilient X10 permits the program to continue executing, losing the data at the failed place, and most of the control state, and repairing the global control state in such a way that key semantic principles hold, the Invariant Happens Before Principle, and the Failure Masking Principle. These principles permit an X10 programmer to write clean code that continues to work in the presence of place failure. The given semantics have additionally been mechanized in Coq.
Information Maps: A Practical Approach to Position Dependent Parameterization
Venue: arXiv cs.CE 2013
Year: 2013

In this contribution a practical approach to determine and store position dependent parameters is presented. These parameters can be obtained, among others, using experimental results or expert knowledge and are stored in 'Information Maps'. Each Information Map can be interpreted as a kind of static grid map and the framework allows to link different maps hierarchically. The Information Maps can be local or global, with static and dynamic information in it. One application of Information Maps is the representation of position dependent characteristics of a sensor. Thus, for instance, it is feasible to store arbitrary attributes of a sensor's preprocessing in an Information Map and utilize them by simply taking the map value at the current position. This procedure is much more efficient than using the attributes of the sensor itself. Some examples where and how Information Maps can be used are presented in this publication. The Information Map is meant to be a simple and practical approach to the problem of position dependent parameterization in all kind of algorithms when the analytical description is not possible or can not be implemented efficiently.
Parkinson's Disease Motor Symptoms in Machine Learning: A Review
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2013
Year: 2013

This paper reviews related work and state-of-the-art publications for recognizing motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (PD). It presents research efforts that were undertaken to inform on how well traditional machine learning algorithms can handle this task. In particular, four PD related motor symptoms are highlighted (i.e. tremor, bradykinesia, freezing of gait and dyskinesia) and their details summarized. Thus the primary objective of this research is to provide a literary foundation for development and improvement of algorithms for detecting PD related motor symptoms.
Approximating the Revenue Maximization Problem with Sharp Demands
Venue: arXiv cs.GT 2013
Year: 2013

We consider the revenue maximization problem with sharp multi-demand, in which $m$ indivisible items have to be sold to $n$ potential buyers. Each buyer $i$ is interested in getting exactly $d_i$ items, and each item $j$ gives a benefit $v_{ij}$ to buyer $i$. We distinguish between unrelated and related valuations. In the former case, the benefit $v_{ij}$ is completely arbitrary, while, in the latter, each item $j$ has a quality $q_j$, each buyer $i$ has a value $v_i$ and the benefit $v_{ij}$ is defined as the product $v_i q_j$. The problem asks to determine a price for each item and an allocation of bundles of items to buyers with the aim of maximizing the total revenue, that is, the sum of the prices of all the sold items. The allocation must be envy-free, that is, each buyer must be happy with her assigned bundle and cannot improve her utility. We first prove that, for related valuations, the problem cannot be approximated to a factor $O(m^{1-ε})$, for any $ε>0$, unless {\sf P} = {\sf NP} and that such result is asymptotically tight. In fact we provide a simple $m$-approximation algorithm even for unrelated valuations. We then focus on an interesting subclass of "proper" instances, that do not contain buyers a priori known not being able to receive any item. For such instances, we design an interesting $2$-approximation algorithm and show that no $(2-ε)$-approximation is possible for any $0<ε\leq 1$, unless {\sf P} $=$ {\sf NP}. We observe that it is possible to efficiently check if an instance is proper, and if discarding useless buyers is allowed, an instance can be made proper in polynomial time, without worsening the value of its optimal solution.
ECOC-Based Training of Neural Networks for Face Recognition
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2013
Year: 2013

Error Correcting Output Codes, ECOC, is an output representation method capable of discovering some of the errors produced in classification tasks. This paper describes the application of ECOC to the training of feed forward neural networks, FFNN, for improving the overall accuracy of classification systems. Indeed, to improve the generalization of FFNN classifiers, this paper proposes an ECOC-Based training method for Neural Networks that use ECOC as the output representation, and adopts the traditional Back-Propagation algorithm, BP, to adjust weights of the network. Experimental results for face recognition problem on Yale database demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. With a rejection scheme defined by a simple robustness rate, high reliability is achieved in this application.
A Simple Method to Produce Algorithmic MIDI Music based on Randomness, Simple Probabilities and Multi-Threading
Venue: arXiv cs.SD 2013
Year: 2013

This paper introduces a simple method for producing multichannel MIDI music that is based on randomness and simple probabilities. One distinctive feature of the method is that it produces and sends in parallel to the sound card more than one unsynchronized channels by exploiting the multi-threading capabilities of general purpose programming languages. As consequence the derived sound offers a quite ``full" and ``unpredictable" acoustic experience to the listener. Subsequently the paper reports the results of an evaluation with users. The results were very surprising: the majority of users responded that they could tolerate this music in various occasions.
A Trust-based Framework for Congestion-aware Energy Efficient Routing in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2013
Year: 2013

A new era in wireless sensor network technology has been ushered in through the introduction of multimedia sensor networks, which has a major bottleneck in the form of network congestion. Congestion occurs when resources are in high demand during the active period while the data processing and transmission speeds lag behind the speed of the incoming traffic. This may disrupt normal network operations by buffer overflow, packet loss, increased latency, excessive energy consumption and even worse, a collapse of the entire operation. In this paper we propose a novel Trust Integrated Congestion-aware Energy Efficient Routing algorithm (TCEER) in which the potential of a node is computed using its trust value, congestion status, residual energy, distance from the current packet-forwarding node and the distance from the base station using a Fuzzy Logic Controller. The source node selects the node of highest potential in its one hop radio range for data transmission. Hop by hop data routing from source to base station is obtained which is light-weight as well as energy-efficient. Finally, the merits of the proposed scheme are discussed by comparing it with the existing protocols and the study shows promising improvements in network performance.